Document jgVJObLRkGQLEBgo9M8gmKkM2

ILa^ixl A N D R EW F U T C H l R MCliDINT K C e O W N t L L VI CE P R ESI D EN T U A . M A R T I N O , VICE R E E I O f N T A, ** Z O L U R . V I C I P R E S I D E N T RO BER T LINDLET IlEO FELO . SECRETARV - TREASURER f d .mn 'i1m i 'A -4-2 0 L E X I N G T O N A V E N U E X E W Y O R K 17, X . V . ' / MANFRED BOWOiTCH O I N CCTO N o r H EA L T H AN O SA FETY July 19, 1956 t* Robert A. Kehoe, M. D. Director, Kettering Laboratory University of Cincinnati Eden Avenue Cincinnati 19, Ohio . Dear "Dr. Kehee": As one o f the f i r s t to sign up fo r a part in "The Luscious Luce Lunacy," now playing in a l l the papers, I think you are e n title d to the enclosed tic k e t to what str ik e s me as the most knowing perfor mance o f th is t h r illin g melodrama thus fa r . ) What I have learned from in sid e sources about the case, plus what I have reason to su sp ect, makes qu ite a s t o iy , which unfortunately cannot be to ld at th is tim e. I t should a l l come out in due course, how ever, and whenever i t does, some fa ces may glow a b i t . ^ -S in c e r e ly , MBGUT. Enclosure 'u o yo r Italy Doubts Arsenic compound In the paint, the question arose why other per sons in the ambassador's resi dence were not poisoned. * -+ Made Mrs. Luce III A State Department spokes man said the situation which led to Mrs. Luce's esse "has 'Seaman Jo U.S. Experts Also Skeptical Of CIA Report on Paint been corrected." The roses have been covered with heavy tar American women In Italy, es paper redone in a different type pecially In Rome." "v-; of paint , Joseph F. Rattley, president "Let me emphasize." the I*,' The fallout Liuoe proves the handled, can be s tlon--or any TV s of the Nations) Paint Varnish State Department spokesman By the United Press, ` and Lacquer Asn., said he said, "this was purely an acci WASHINGTON, July 18.--Something Very much would "question that someone dent and there is absolutely no resembling the mystery of the month seemed to be de veloping today in the story of Ambassador Clare Boothe Luce and the arsenical roses in her boudoir. a Mrs. Luce, U.S. ambassador ' * to Italy, is *uttering from ar up its report. These newspapers could formulate, deliberately or accidentally, a paint with an arsenic compound of suf ficient strength . . . to cause illness of the tyne which Mrs. Luce suffered." implication that it was other wise." No HI Effect Ellsworth Bunker, who occu pied the same villa while am i - ' It had every Jonper playwrigh Luce losing her h Ihg and her finger In an Italian 17t waltz that soured foot turned numb senic poisoning. And the ques devoted thousands of words to "Paint forms a tough, hard bassador to Rome in 1952 and But then the ") (,6 Q tion arises: How did she get it. the story in dispatches from fiim that has no pigment afli- 1953, said he suffered no ill According to Time magazine, New York and Rome. They ot which Mrs. Luce s husband were splashed across the front is editor-in-chief, the arabassa pages wieth photographs and out," he said. "A good example is the murais, hundreds of years old, on ceilings all over effects. "My wifs does recall the dor has been getting slow doses questions. Italy. Today's modern paint; paint did fleck olf some," Mr. with plenty of cre gence Agency wh United States Na ambassadorial sp ot arsenic-containing paint dust But 11 Tempo of Rome re are specially formulated to Bunker, now president of the and particles from the bedroom celling of her 17th century villa near Rome. The "fallout'' came from the Borgian white roses that adorn the celling of the room. It not only drifted into the air but got into Mrs. Luce's food and morning coffee, the magazine reported. This, said Time, explains the recurring illness which Mrs. Luce has been suffering. Time credited agents of the Central Intelligence Agency with dis covering the source of the poi sonous particles. ported that one of the two toy poodles that Mrs. Luce had brought to Italy apparently was a victim of the poison. "To tell the truth, the one who got caught in this was a small beast--a little white dog who apparently was a*victim of poison," II Tempo said. `Explanations' Awaited. Even though It Tempo gave credence to the CIA report, other newspapers questloed the agency's deductions. "The American . public is awaiting some explanations how a situation discovered and withstand numerous scrub bing and washing." Agricultural Sprays. , Mr. Battley said arsenic tri oxide "has been used exten sively In Italy for agricultural sprays. It is conceivable it could be used against house In sects or rodents, but It Is in conceivable that it was used intentionally in a paint film." In Italy, Anst, the semi-of ficial Italian _ news agency, qupted Rome scientists as say ing the use of arsenic com pounds in paints was "gener ally abandoned" at least 30 American Red Cross, said, "but it didn't seem to bother me. Of course, I was only there for a year." In Cincinnati, Dr. Robert A. Kehee, of the Kettering Lab oratory of Applied Physiology, Said that prolonged exposure to small amounts of arsenic can produce "chronic" esses of arsenic poisoning. Dr. Kehee said such cases often develop after the subject absorbs tiny particles of arsenic "over a long period ot time." the wonderful na Department whic griatic relations m ' . And a final zine, which Just h husband. Turned down from the p in her breakfast Mrs. Luce n we're glad she's this .week Tor a t , Next: Will sh speaker at the R tuned. Questions Raised. remedied 17 months ago haas years ago. But quesUons have b e e n gontlnued to affect Mrs. Luce's The scientists went on to ex 7O +R V'eMi M y , W o r t* i-T raised about the accuracy of health at least two--months plain, however, that when CIA's detective work, although after she returned to Amrica," arsenic compounds a n used no one was suggesting a def the pro-gpvemment newspaper in paint, a poisonous hydrogen- inite poison attempt or foreign Gazzetta del Popolo of Turin arsenic gas develops ver intrigue. said. * . slowly under the influence of Italian newspapers openly The Hghwlhg II Glorno of air and moisture and through asked If the CIA had given a Milan said It was another chap the action of fnaulds. . . - complete explanation to back ter of the "perils faced by But If there were ah arsenic